Warning over illicit alcohol industry

The illicit alcohol industry is booming in SA, and consumers need to be especially careful when buying liquor since they could end up with an illegal product without even realising it. That’s according to Angela Russell, CEO of the Drinks Federation of SA (DFSA), who was speaking to the Kaya Biz podcast. In 2020, a DFSA study revealed that about 22% of alcohol in SA was illicit, up from 13.5% in 2017. BusinessTech reports that illicit alcohol refers to products where taxes and duties haven’t been paid, and it comes in several forms: The illicit alcohol trade is growing, and Africa has an average of 40% illicit alcohol. In Mozambique and Zambia, the averages are as high as 73% and 70% respectively. According to Tax Justice SA, an estimated 500m litres of dangerous illegal alcohol is consumed in SA every year, which costs South Africans $339m every year in lost tax revenue. ‘The illicit alcohol trade is completely unregulated; there are no restrictions on what criminals are selling or who they’re selling to,’ the group said.